Vehicle article carriers are used in a wide variety of applications for supporting and securing articles of various sizes above an outer surface of a vehicle. Typically, vehicle article carriers include a pair of support rails that are secured to the outer body surface of the vehicle. The support rails are typically straight and mounted on the outer body surface to extend parallel to each other. The support rails are usually secured along a major longitudinal length of the vehicle roof, rear deck lid, or truck bed.
Typically, at least one cross bar extends between the two support rails. The cross bar is secured to each support rail by bracket assemblies that are fastened to each end of the cross bar. Each bracket assembly typically comprises a locking mechanism for releasably securing it to an associated one of the opposing support rails.
While current vehicle article carriers perform adequately for their intended use they are all subject to improvement. Specifically, the locking mechanisms of many current article carriers typically include a relatively large number of complex parts, thus making the locking mechanisms somewhat difficult and/or costly to assemble. Many such locking mechanisms require one or more independent springs to perform the needed locking action, which can add to the complexity and cost of the locking mechanism. Further, with some article carriers, the locking mechanisms can be difficult to completely disengage from their respective support rails when opened, and thereby prevent one or both of the bracket assemblies from being easily repositioned along its associated support rail or removed from the support rail.
Consequently, there exists a need for a vehicle article carrier having a cross bar with bracket assemblies at each end thereof that include a simplified locking mechanism that is easier to assemble, more cost efficient to produce, and provides excellent reliability in its locking orientation.